Digimon Zero Two: The Darkest Tales
by Lovegood Hermione
Summary: Do you think you know Digimon 02? Know the characters? Think again. This is how things really occurred. This is a darker look than what you saw. A darker vision of what really happened. Please read & leave me some feedback
1. The One Who Inherits Courage

**Hello everyone! This is my first ever fanfic so I hope you all support me in it. It's my first fanfic, it hasn't been betaread because I want to evolve on my own. I do not own Digimon.**

**Episode 1: The One Who Inherits Courage**

Digimon ran for their lives fearing what would happen if they were caught by the dark rings. Ken Ichijouji laughed cruelly, his eyes flashing blood-red as he snapped his whip on the ground and sent dark rings flying. Osamu had introduced him to this world, he had taught him that only those with power were loved, once he had the most power his parents would love him just as much as they loved his brother. Another digimon stepped forward besides him.

"Osamu says to conquer the next area," The purple and white digimon said. It was Impmon, the only digimon that Osamu considered to be up to their level and the one Ken usually listened to as well. Ken nodded in agreement and headed inside to send more slaves out.

"Greymon!" Ken snapped. "Go out and capture Patamon and Tailmon before taking over the area!"

Greymon's eyes turned red and he simply growled in agreement, stomping outside in order to follow his master's command. The door then opened and Ken fell to his knees out of respect and fear. He didn't dare disrespect the person who had gotten him this far even if it was his own brother but he was powerful. And powerful people had the right to walk over others because everyone loved them for who they were.

Osamu had spiky blue hair and black square rimmed-glasses and looked a lot like Ken but older. Ken also had spiky blue hair but his hair went all over the place and had square-rimmed yellow glasses with purple lenses on the inside.

"Get up," Osamu snapped, his voice sounding hard and on edge like he always did when he was disappointed in something happening or things not going his way.

Ken immediately got to his feet.

"Yes, Osamu-sama?" Ken said softly, wondering what he had done wrong now. He was doing his best to follow Osamu's orders to become more powerful and be appreciated but it seemed he was never getting things right.

"You need to speed things up," Osamu said simply. He grasped Ken by the chin. "If you don't, the digimon will overpower you and you'll fall victim once again. I want this new area taken over before sunset tonight."

Ken felt a jolt of fear when Osamu said that the digimon would overpower him and make him fall victim. He clenched his fist on the side, there was no way he'd let that happen. He shivered a little at the look in Osamu's eyes. It shook him to the core and he nodded in agreement.

Osamu let go of Ken's chin, seemingly satisfied at seeing the other shake in slight fear. He turned around, walking out of the room, although kept on eye on Ken from a distance.

"Ken-chan," A soft voice said as soon as Osamu had left. A small green worm came up to him, concern filling his light blue eyes. "You don't have to do this. This is wrong. I can protect you from Osamu-san's evil plans, you should leave."

Ken's eyes hardened at Wormmon's words. He always stuck by him and told him what Osamu did to him was wrong but he didn't understand. Osamu was only doing this for him, only being harsh to make him be loved by the others once he became powerful.

"Yes, I do," was all Ken replied, his eyes distant before he went outside the room.

* * *

Tailmon panted as she ran from a Unimon that had been sent out after her. She was getting exhausted and didn't know how to keep on going. Exhausted, she collapsed. Unimon came closer to her, about to step on her but she quickly rolled out of the way, yelping when he stepped on her tail.

She wanted to cry out but she didn't. Not out loud anyway albeit she silently wished Hikari were here to help her but knew she wouldn't be able to hear her from so far away. She was done for, this would be worse than working for Vamdemon as she'd have no free will in this. Just as she thought all hope was lost, a boom bubble hit Unimon distracting her long enough to run for cover into a nearby cave where she collapsed.

"Hikari…" The feline digimon mumbled.

* * *

"Daisuke-kun!" Hikari Yagami cried looking for her friend from Elementary school and her brother Taichi's old soccer team. She was now fifteen years of age and had grown quite a lot in the last seven years. She had shoulder-length brown hair with a red pin to keep it neat and orderly. She had made friends with Motomiya Daisuke from her brother's soccer team, he had been rather distant towards her at first but they were good friends now.

Daisuke, who was kicking around a soccer ball looked around at the familiar voice and beamed at Hikari. He had spiky brown hair and wore square goggles, something he had started up due to his friendship and admiration of Taichi. Taichi and Hikari were the only ones he really bothered to be nice too and the only ones who cared.

"Hey Hikari," Daisuke said happily. "Are we in the same class again?"

Hikari giggled a little.

"Yeah, we are," Hikari replied as she walked over to him. "Are you ready to go?"

Daisuke nodded and the two of them headed towards class where Hikari's eyes fell on a blond boy. The boy wore a white hat, a green and yellow shirt.

"Takeru-kun!" Hikari cried, her hand going to her mouth in surprise. She hadn't seen Takeru in seven years since he had moved from Oidaba after their adventures.

The blond boy – Takeru – looked up when he heard his name being called and looked to the girl who had called his name. His blue eyes widened as well and his heart thudded wildly in his chest. Whilst she had definitely changed, he still recognized her as his dear friend from the digital adventure.

"H-Hikari-chan?" Takeru breathed out, not sure what else to say.

Hikari's eyes filled with tears and she rushed forward, embracing her childhood friend. She had missed him so much.

"I missed you, Takeru-kun!" Hikari admitted honestly, holding onto him tighter.

Takeru wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as well. He had missed her. Being the two youngest of the group, he had gotten along with her quite quickly. He had missed all his friends and big brother during all this time.

"I missed you too," Takeru replied softly. "It wasn't the same without you and the others, Hikari-chan."

Daisuke felt his face heating up. Who was this punk and how did he know Hikari? He felt angry at anyone being so close to Hikari and wondered if she had a boyfriend she never told him about. Driven by impulse, he stormed over to Takeru and Hikari, pushing him away from his friend.

"Who do you think you are, flirting with Hikari-chan?" Daisuke said rudely, glowering at him.

"Daisuke-kun, calm down!" Hikari pleaded, grabbing his sleeve gently, knowing how he could get around new people. "Please?"

"Who is he, Hikari-chan?" Daisuke growled, rougher than he usually was with her.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Takeru defended, frowning at the other not liking anyone taking that tone with one of his dearest friends.

Hikari felt uncomfortable with two of her friends fighting albeit shook her head at Takeru, turning towards Daisuke.

"He's an old friend of mine, Daisuke-kun," Hikari consoled him gently. "I promise he's not going to hurt me or anyone. Trust me on this okay?"

Somehow Hikari's calm and gentle voice did seem to soothe him slightly and he felt a twinge of guilt when Hikari asked him to trust her and Daisuke did. He trusted her and Taichi beyond anything, but anyone besides them he knew not to trust, for they could turn out just like Jun and their parents. He managed a small nod before pulling away and going to sit down. He didn't know what else to do or say but didn't bother to apologise to Takeru for his rude behavior.

Takeru looked like he was about to ask but seeing the look in Hikari's eyes he decided to remain quiet. Maybe Daisuke had a right reason for lashing out at him which was why Hikari looked so sad about everything. She seemed to care a lot about Daisuke after all. He pushed aside his own feelings of curiosity and decided to ask Hikari about it later.

It seemed none of them had to wait long though because Hikari felt herself cringe towards the end of the class. Something was happening and she didn't know what to do about it. It was like something was physically crushing the depths of her heart.

"T-Tailmon!" Hikari cried unthinkingly. It was odd but she could just feel that was the problem. Tailmon was hurt somewhere and needed her.

"Yagami-san?" The teacher asked, looking at his student concerned. "Are you alright?"

Hikari shook her head as everyone turned towards her.

"N-no…" Hikari mumbled, cringing in pain. She wanted to cry from the excruciating pain, she felt like Tailmon was alone and hurt somewhere. Before the teacher could say anything, the bell rang. Without waiting for anyone else, she ran outside the class hurrying towards the computer room.

"Hikari-chan!" Both Daisuke and Takeru cried, rushing out after her. Daisuke, while he had been upset earlier still cared too much against his will to let Hikari be alone and Takeru was worried she had fallen ill once more like she had that time in the digital world.

As Hikari entered the computer room, followed closely by Daisuke and Takeru, she saw her brother and Koushirou already there, surprised to see them there.

"Oniichan?" Hikari said causing Taichi to turn away from the computer.

"Taichi-san!" Takeru said, surprised to see how much he had changed as well. Then again, he would be in college now wouldn't he? Of course he would be a bit different.

Taichi was surprised to see Hikari but even more surprised to see Takeru and Daisuke with her. However, he kept a calm countenance.

"Hikari," Taichi said gently. "Is everything alright?"

Hikari shook her head, looking quite distressed.

"No," Hikari choked out a small sob. "Tailmon's in trouble, Oniichan! I can feel it." She knew she shouldn't be talking so openly about this but she was much too worried to think about that right now.

Daisuke was frowning, wondering who Tailmon was. He had heard Taichi mention a digital world before but not going into too much detail. He carefully watched seeing Taichi's face transform from surprise to worry.

"Koushiro had the same feeling," Taichi admitted, breathing in through his nose. He had begun training to become a firefighter and it took up most of his time. His eyes travelled to Takeru. "Takeru, it's good to see you. I daresay Hikari's introduced you to Daisuke."

Takeru smiled a little, although it was drowned in worry. He glanced over at Daisuke who was looking at Hikari with a mixture of curiousity and worry in his eyes. The blond was also worried, not about Hikari but about Patamon too. Hikari had seemed to be in a lot of pain earlier and he wanted to help her out. A light flashed inside the computer and three flashes of light came out of the computer. One of the light hit Daisuke's palms, transforming into a device of sorts as he looked at it.

"Taichi-senpai?" Daisuke asked frowning, pointing the blue and white device towards Taichi. "What's this?"

Taichi, Hikari, Koushiro and Takeru all had wide eyes upon seeing what definitely looked to be a digivice.

"Digivice?" Taichi said, shock clear in his voice as he was unable to help but gape. He could see Hikari looking at him wondering what was going on and he wondered that too. Why had Daisuke received a digivice? Why was Hikari feeling as if Tailmon were in danger? Had something gone wrong in the digital world once more?

"Taichi-sempai," Daisuke said, slight impatience seeping into his tone as he looked at his idol.

"Daisuke-kun," Koushiro began, stepping forward knowing he was better at explaining these things than Taichi was but as soon as he stepped away from the computer, another bright light flashed sucking Daisuke, Hikari, Takeru and Taichi all inside. "Taichi-san! Hikari-san! Takeru-kun! Daisuke-kun!" The computer genius could only stare as his friends were sucked inside the computer.

"Izumi-senpai!" A voice called out and a girl was standing there with a friend of hers who she was going home with him. The girl had short wavy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She wore a red shirt and blue jean-material shorts as well as a green T-cap. Besides her, stood a boy with an oddly round shape hair cut and a solemn look in his emerald green eyes.

"Ah, Ai-kun, Hida-kun," Koushiro said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, looking around hoping they hadn't come seeing the flash of light that had occurred there just moments ago. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"What the heck was that light?" Ai said rather bluntly. "Were there others here?"

"Light? What light?" Koushiro said feigning innocence glancing warily at the computer hoping it wouldn't act up again.

"And what's this, Izumi-san?" The younger boy asked holding up a device similar to Daisuke's causing Koushiro to frown.

"Why do you have those?" Koushiro couldn't help but ask and Ai frowned, noticing he seemed a little less weary now.

"I have one too," Ai admitted nodding. "What are these?"

Koushiro sighed, knowing they deserved an explanation. If they had digivices there must be a reason for it and considering the others had been sucked into the computer, he was the only one left to do it.

"You two might want to sit down," Koushiro offered them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Taichi, Daisuke, Hikari and Takeru felt as if they were travelling in a large whirlpool which they were suddenly thrown out of and hit the ground. Daisuke groaned, rubbing the back of his head and he gasped as he realized that his clothes had changed. He realized he was now wearing a blue jacket with a flame-like design on it and brown shorts.

"Where are we?" Daisuke muttered, annoyed. Ever since that blond kid had appeared, things appeared to be going downhill. Something moved in a cave nearby.

"Over here!" A voice hissed and there was a movement. A shadow was seen of a cat running from end to another.

"T-Tailmon?" Hikari said, her heart thudding wildly in her chest. She had been shocked at how much the digital world had changed. It made her eyes water at the burnt down trees and the screaming that could be heard from all around them. She wanted to shut her ears and somehow stop her body from trembling but forced herself to remain calm as Taichi ran towards the cave. She quickly followed as well. Soon the four of them were in the cave.

"Tailmon!" Hikari cried, embracing the feline digimon holding her close, allowing the tears to cascade down her cheeks. "What happened? I felt you were in trouble!"

"Patamon!" Takeru also ran over, kneeling down besides his exhausted looking hamster friend. In fact, both their partners looked worn out and beaten up which was quite the source of worry for him, he hated seeing Patamon like this.

"What happened, you guys?" Taichi asked, concerned. "Where are Agumon and the others?"

"There's a new evil human in the digital world," Tailmon explained, leaning close to Hikari. "He's called the Digimon Kaiser, he enslaves digimon with things called dark rings. Agumon and all the others have been turned into slaves. Greymon's out there, Hikari. He almost turned Patamon into shishkobab."

Hikari tensed at that but the look on Taichi's face was much more distraught. Taichi felt his knuckles turn white and his closed fists were shaking from both fury and anger.

"How did a human even get into this world?" Daisuke wondered causing the others to turn to him. Taichi and Hikari gaped at him causing him to flush. "I just meant does he have one of these too?" He held up his digivice once more.

Patamon and Tailmon both gasped.

"That's the Digimon Kaiser's digivice!" Patamon cried furiously glowering at Daisuke. "You must work for the Digimon Kaiser!"

"Patamon!" Both Taichi and Hikari chided.

"I don't work for anyone!" Daisuke snapped defensively glowering at the hamster digimon for even suggesting that. "This just came out of the computer and allowed us to come here!"

Takeru frowned a little, he may not know Daisuke very well but he trusted Taichi's judgement and knew that Daisuke couldn't possibly working for this Digimon Kaiser persona.

"Calm down, Patamon," Takeru said gently trying to reassure him. "He's never been here before."

Patamon hung his head but didn't say anything. Tailmon embraced him, knowing he was just distressed like she had been since the capture of their friends. A light suddenly flashed from Davis's digivice and behind them, catching everyone's attention.

There was a blue, yellow and red spiked egg sitting on the cave rock. In golden engraving it had the symbol of courage in it.

Taichi blinked and stepped forward.

"What's this?" Taichi asked the two digimon.

"We're not sure but," Tailmon began. "Rumour has it that it might be the Digimental of courage. Whoever can lift it is chosen to bring peace and harmony to the digital world."

Taichi let this information sink in. He had been chosen seven years ago and he did have the Crest of Courage. He was a Chosen Child with a partner digimon so he had to be able to lift it right? If that was the case, then why did he feel so hesitant upon lifting the Digimental?

"Lift it, Oniichan," Hikari encouraged her older brother, placing a hand on his shoulder being able to sense his hesitance.

Taichi nodded and stepped forward, placing both his hands around the Digimental and pulling as hard as he could. It didn't budge though and he found himself falling back, loosening his grip on the Digimental.

"I can't lift it," Taichi said shrugging his shoulders, trying to look nonchalant. He replayed Tailmon's words in his head and glanced at Daisuke. While he wasn't completely sure about this, he had a feeling his friend didn't have the best home life. He had hinted it at times and knew Daisuke had more hidden courage than he realized. It reminded him of Yamato and his Crest of Friendship, he had never realized how good of a friend he was until he really needed to. He turned to the younger boy. "Daisuke, you try."

"M-me?" Daisuke asked, astonished and looking at Taichi as if he had grown another head. "Taichi-sempai, no offence but if it's Courage, you have the wrong person."

"That's not true!" Hikari protested, crossing her arms and looking at her friend firmly. "You're plenty courageous, Daisuke-kun, I know you are!"

"Hikari's right," Taichi said firmly. He put his hands on Daisuke's shoulders. "Try it."

Taking in Taichi's confident gaze and Hikari's supportive one, Daisuke's insides gave a squirm. Swallowing he stepped forward, his heart pounding wildly in his chest he placed his hands around the Digimental and pulled. It came out with ease, a soft orange glow emitting out of the Digimental as a shadow appeared of sleeping blue dragon digimon bathed in the light of the Digimental of Courage.


	2. The Flames of Courage

**Thank you so much for the reviews, everyone. I had thought my writing was so crap that no one would ever really enjoy it but you guys have given me the courage to continue. Thanks to MoonlightxAngel and LittleKrus for betareading this chapter. **

**Episode 2: The Flames of Courage**

The light shone brighter than ever and a blue dragon with pointy ears emerged from it. His eyes opened and he jumped out of the light, beginning to hop around Daisuke.

"Finally!" the little dragon said happily. "Thanks for lifting the Digimental. I guess that means we're partners! I'm V-mon!" He put a paw out to Daisuke to shake.

Daisuke gaped at the dragon before raising an eyebrow suspiciously at him. "Daisuke," he simply said, but not reaching out his own hand to acknowledge the creature. After all, he didn't know him, so why should he be overly friendly with someone he didn't know?

Hikari sighed a little, seeing Daisuke's reaction with his new partner, and wished he'd just be friendly with him. It was not like V-mon would harm him or otherwise.

V-mon, on the other hand, appeared a little confused at his new partner's lack of friendliness. He didn't have long to think about this, however, as a roar came from outside and Greymon broke through the cave.

"Run!" Tailmon cried as the sound of footsteps grew louder, signaling that the enemy was getting nearer. They all began to run away as fast as they could.

Taichi felt as if his feet were frozen as he stared at his old partner.

"Greymon!" he called out, trying to get through to him. "It's me, Taichi! You have to remember!" He stumbled slightly as Greymon fired a Mega Flame towards his direction. Fortunately, he missed Taichi, though only by an inch.

"Oniichan!"

"Taichi-san!"

"Taichi-senpai!"

Greymon tried to physically attack Taichi this time when he didn't budge from his spot but V-mon rushed forward.

"V-mon Head!" He slammed into Greymon, knocking him off guard and stumbling a little.

"Don't hurt him!" Taichi cried defensively, glowering at V-mon. "Daisuke, tell him to back off!"

Daisuke looked uncertain. He knew V-mon was trying to protect Taichi from getting hurt, but at the same time, it seemed as if Taichi didn't want to hurt his partner, no matter how much it hurt him.

"He's trying to protect you, Taichi-senpai," Daisuke said slowly, surprised that he was defending a creature he barely knew even if he did appear friendly. He cringed when he saw Greymon knocked V-mon aside with his large tail, the latter being continuously smacked as if he was a small, powerless fly.

"Oniichan." Hikari placed a gentle hand on her brother's shoulder, sensing his distress at seeing his beloved partner a slave. "Daisuke-kun and V-mon are right. He has to do something. Otherwise he won't be able to protect you in case Greymon attacks you. He's under the Digimon Kaiser's control right now so he has no control over his own actions…"

Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she saw a bluish figure coming in their direction and quickly pushed Taichi aside to dodge it. V-mon was sent crashing against the wall.

Daisuke couldn't take it anymore. He hated seeing anyone being beaten like that. He could imagine himself in V-mon's place, with Greymon in his father's, hitting him like that. He couldn't defend himself but maybe he could somehow stop someone else from acting the way his father did.

"V-mon!" Daisuke cried, rushing over to his side. "Are… are you alright?"

"Daisuke…" V-mon murmured, exhausted from distracting Greymon with his own powers, though he was glad to see that his partner cared. He stiffened as Greymon walked towards their direction. "Daisuke, listen. Greymon's heading this way. We're the only ones who can beat him."

Daisuke was glad V-mon seemed alright. However, his concerned expression turned into a frown when he said that the two of them were the only ones who could beat Greymon. He didn't want to "beat" Greymon per se, just stop him—both for V-mon's and Taichi's sake.

"How?" Daisuke asked, a little hesitantly.

"You have to gather your courage and say 'Digimental Up'," V-mon explained, happy that his partner was willing to cooperate. With Daiuske's unfriendly response before, he had begun to be doubtful about their partnership and how things would work out between them, but perhaps he was too quick to judge just yet.

"I…" Daisuke didn't know what to say. Seeing the towering digimon didn't make him feel courageous at all. All he felt like doing was escape this crazy world and going back to school, but he knew that right now he needed to do something. He sighed deeply and turned to Tailmon. "Can I really free him from the Kaiser's control?" He didn't want to hurt Greymon; he didn't want to hurt anyone. It didn't seem right, especially if Greymon couldn't control his own actions right now.

Tailmon nodded. "Yeah, you have to break the dark ring on Greymon's back," she explained, gesturing a paw towards the said digimon, who was closing in on them.

Daisuke quickly grabbed V-mon and moved to the side so that his attacks wouldn't reach them. He took a quick glance at Taichi. He looked so desperate but, at the same time, determined. It was taking both Takeru and Hikari to hold him back from trying to reach Greymon. But Daisuke wasn't sure if he could do this. He didn't think he was courageous enough.

"Motomiya-kun!" Takeru's voice snapped Daisuke out of his thoughts and the latter looked at him. "Please! Patamon and Tailmon can't digivolve. They're too exhausted and the Digimon Kaiser must have done something to prevent evolution so please! I know we got off on the wrong foot but…" The blond shut his eyes before opening them firmly. "Taichi-san and his partner are counting on you."

Daisuke wanted to argue that he couldn't do this, and neither could this stranger pressure him to, but at the same time, he didn't want to disappoint Taichi or Hikari. Still hesitant, he held the Digimental up.

"Digimental Up!" he cried. After a few moments of awkwardness and nothing happened, he frowned. He peered at V-mon, who was looking disappointed, almost sad.

"You're not believing in yourself!" V-mon said. He yelped as Greymon swiped him off the ground and into his arms.

"V-mon!" Hikari called, running towards Greymon.

"Hang in there!" Tailmon cried, frowning. V-mon definitely had the strength and courage she had once seen in Wizarmon. But he was also being thrown around like Wizarmon had been when the latter had defended her from Vamdemon.

Daisuke's eyes widened. He clenched a fist as Greymon threw V-mon around and kicked him. Memories of his mother going through the same situation when he was a child made him furious. He didn't know V-mon; he didn't know this world, but he would not let another injustice repeat itself. As V-mon hit the ground for the fifth time, he gripped his Digimental tightly and chucked his goggles to the ground in fury.

"DIGIMENTAL UP!" he yelled as he held up his Digimental. A bright orange hue enveloped the circular object before firing its lights in all directions.

"V-mon armour-evolve to…Fladramon!"

Fladramon was a mixture of blue, red and yellow, a sleek dragon-like figure with sharp metal horns protruding out of his forehead and knuckles.

"Toast that dark ring, Fladramon!" Patamon cried, pumping his paw out enthusiastically.

Daisuke was staring open-mouthed at the situation, unable to believe what had occurred. He had felt he wasn't courageous enough, yet V-mon managed to evolve with the Digimental of Courage into this powerful-looking creature. He wasn't as excited as Patamon, though, considering they hadn't exactly won yet.

"V-mon," he whispered in awe despite himself. "You became…"

"Thanks for the power boost, Daisuke!" Fladramon said, giving him a thumbs up. "You saved me! Now, let me lend this big guy a hand! FIRE ROCKET!" An aura of fire surrounded the digimon before he jumped and aimed himself at Greymon, crashing and knocking him to the ground.

Fladramon released a string of fireballs from his fists as he cried out, "KNUCLE FIRE!"

Greymon didn't have enough time to dodge as balls of flames were bombarded towards him, heading straight for the dark ring around his waist/arm. As soon as they made contact, the evil object shattered into pieces and the wearer was finally free from darkness. In fact, he _felt_ free from darkness.

Greymon glowed in an orange light and de-digivolved to a smaller orange dragon digimon.

"Agumon!" Taichi cried, rushing forward and embracing his partner. Tears welled in his eyes and he held Agumon tighter. "I'm so glad you're back. I'm sorry. We had to get the dark ring. I didn't want to hurt you, but it was the only way…"

"Taichi—" Agumon began, but the said boy didn't give him a chance to speak. He was so relieved and happy.

"I was afraid I'd lost you but Hikari assured me things would be okay…" Taichi continued rambling in his worry, not even listening to what Agumon was trying to say.

"TAICHI!" Agumon cried, a little louder this time, causing his partner to stop and blink. "I'm alright. Thanks for freeing me." The digimon hugged back, feeling tears forming in his own eyes. He was relieved to be back in the safety of his partner's arms. Things always seemed a lot easier when they were facing them together.

The two held each other for awhile before pulling away as the others approached them. Taichi stood up, taking his goggles off, which he wore partly out of reminiscence and partly out of just for the sake of wearing them.

"Daisuke, I'm proud of you," Taichi said, smiling at the younger boy, who reminded himself a lot of his younger self and Yamato. His courage, mixed with Yamato's uncertainty, combined in one neat mix. "You did well today, so I want you to have these, since yours broke when you threw them to the ground. After all, a leader needs his goggles."

Daisuke flushed when Taichi praised him. He felt a little odd showing so much emotion but was glad things turned out okay. Still, Taichi's words threw him off guard.

"L-leader?" Daisuke stammered, a tinge of uncertainly in his voice. "I don't know if I can…"

"I know you can." Daisuke turned to the source of that voice—Takeru. "I don't know you Motomiya-kun," the blond admitted. "But what you did back there was leader material. Taking charge of the situation like that, you remind me of Tachi a little. Like Hikari-chan, I want to try being your friend, if you'll let me." He put his hand out to shake.

Daisuke didn't know what to say. Hikari had wanted to be his friend because she was a kind person, and Taichi was very open and warm. But for another person who wanted to befriend him… Takeru seemed alright; he did not even get offended when he was rude to him, but it was hard to just trust anyone like that.

Daisuke felt that he might not be great at this whole working-in-a-team and being-a-leader thing, but maybe he should give other people a chance. It seemed harmless, so he ultimately took Takeru's hand, albeit somewhat hesitantly.

"Call me Daisuke, Takeru-san," Daisuke said. "I'm not great at making friends but Hikari-chan seems to like my friendship enough, despite me being a jerk." He shrugged a little.

"I can take a challenge," Takeru said lightly and grinned, remembering how difficult reasoning with Yamato had been in their first adventure.

Daisuke smiled a little at that before turning back to Taichi. "I'll do my best, but are you sure about this, Taichi-senpai?" he asked, frowning a little now. "I mean, a leader should keep the group together and since I suck at friendship and all…"

"Of course." Taichi grinned, pushing the goggles towards Daisuke again. "You'll be a great leader."

"And you don't suck at friendship," V-mon chimed in, coming over to his side. "I mean, you helped me after all and you don't even know me. We're partners, Daisuke!" V-mon smiled and held out his paw, hoping he'd accept his handshake this time.

Daisuke went down on one knee and took V-mon's paw. "I'm glad you're okay, V-mon," Daisuke said honestly. "I'll try my best with everything."

V-mon nodded in agreement. He had firm faith in his partner.

Daisuke stood up and took the goggles from Taichi, putting them over his head like he had with the old one.

"They look good on you," Hikari commented, smiling before turning to Tailmon. "How do we go home?"

"There's a T.V. portal close by," Tailmon replied. "We'll show you." She motioned for the others to follow her, and the group began walking towards the portal.

Meanwhile, Ken was watching them from a large computer screen from a distance. He clenched his fist in frustration as the focus closed in on the group.

"How _dare_ they get in my way?!" Ken grunted, eyes flashing angrily. The focus narrowed down to Daisuke, the boy who had made V-mon armor-evolved. He saw something in his eyes and soon his anger faded into a sickly smile as he touched the spot where Daisuke was walking.

"Motomiya-kun," Ken purred, leaning close. "I'm going to have a lot of fun dealing with you." There was something pulling him towards the boy and he couldn't help but want to meet him. An evil laugh escaped his lips and echoed in the room. He looked forward to dealing with the attractive young teen. There was just something special and luring about him that he couldn't resist.


	3. Chosen or Not Chosen?

_Thank you for the reviews, everyone. I am glad you are liking the fanfic as I have big plans for it. I have seen many Zero Two revisions but I wanted to put a twist on the whole story and make some major changes to the plot, rather than pairings. Thanks to _**LittleKrus **_for betareading this chapter!_

**Episode 3: Chosen or Not Chosen?**

Ai had to admit she was definitely shocked at what Koushiro was telling them as it seemed more like a plot from a video game than reality. Just the explanation that there was another parallel world opposite to their own where these creatures lived made her head spin. So, while Iori asked questions, she munched on a chocolate bar thoughtfully. Suddenly the computer screen flashed and the Chosen Children came tumbling out of it, landing on top of the other three humans.

"Ah!" Koushiro cried out in alarm as he was squashed flat underneath everyone else. "Guys. Get. Off. Me!"

After some wriggling around and protests, everyone managed to get themselves up.

"Where did you come from?!" Ai asked, turning to Hikari curiously.

"Um...well how much has Koushiro-san told you?" Hikari asked, worried that she might be giving too much away.

"He told us about the digital world," Iori said quietly. "Is that where you came from?"

Hikari glanced over at Daisuke, as if waiting for him to explain further. It would be a good opportunity for him to gain the confidence needed to be a leader and lead his team when the time came down to it.

Daisuke looked a bit taken aback by this. He knew Taichi had assigned him to be the new leader but he really didn't know if he could handle this.

"Yeah, we came from the digital world," Daisuke said slowly. He reached into his pocket and brought out the digivice. "Do you have this too?" He showed it to Ai and Iori.

Ai pulled her own D-3 out while Iori still had his in his hand. Both of them showed it to Daisuke. He nodded in agreement.

"We'll go there tomorrow okay?" Daisuke said to them. "Right now, we should probably all get home."

Ai made a grunt of disapproval—she wanted to go to the digital world _now_—but Iori grabbed her arm. She looked at her friend and could see that he wanted to go too.

"Iori..." she said and pouted.

"Ai-san," Iori said. "It's pretty late so let's wait one more day and just go tomorrow. I need to get back to the centre anyway." He knew the officials would get worried if he were late. Luckily, Ai hung her head in defeat, considering the others seemed tired and wanted to go home too.

"Alright," the brunette conceded, seeing as she was the minority here. "But I'm definitely going tomorrow!" She held her finger out towards both Koushiro and Iori before leaving.

* * *

After everyone went their separate ways, Taichi gathered the older team together for a small meeting to explain what was going on. They all agreed to meet in a small park near their high school, which was the easiest place for everyone to gather around.

Sora was the first one to arrive. She didn't have college today but she had been helping her mother at the flower shop.

"Takeru-kun, it's good to see you," she said happily. It had been awhile since she had caught up with her friends but according to what Taichi had said, they needed to hear about the current condition of the digital world.

"Likewise, Sora-san," Takeru replied. He had always been rather close with Sora but now, with her relationship with his brother, their relationship had become even closer. He saw his brother Yamato walking over as well, together with their common friend, Jyou. Mimi was in America so unfortunately she couldn't be here.

"Yamato-kun," Sora said, embracing her boyfriend, who in turn wrapped his arms around her waist. They held each other for a while, enjoying each other's warmth. Then, they reluctantly broke away from their hug and sat down.

"Taichi, what's going on in the digital world?" Yamato asked, putting an arm around Sora's shoulder.

"There's a human trying to turn digimon into slaves," Taichi explained, his expression darkening. "He had Greymon as his slave as well."

Everyone save for Takeru and Hikari gasped at that. Yamato reached over and placed his hand on Taichi's arm, knowing how close Taichi and Agumon had always been.

"I'm sorry," Yamato said, hanging his head. "I know that couldn't have been easy."

Taichi smiled a little. "No, it wasn't," he agreed, remembering how helpless he had felt. It would have been nice having Yamato and his team by his side then, since things did seem a lot easier when they were all together. "But Daisuke and his partner V-mon managed to free him so he's safe now. All the digimon are hiding out for now. Apparently the Digimon Kaizer doesn't come out at night."

Sora frowned. Her thoughts drifted to her own digimon partner, Piyomon, wondering if she was alright.

"If this Digimon Kaizer is turning digimon into slaves," Sora began, looking at Taichi, "then are Piyomon and the others really safe?"

"No digimon is safe, Sora." Taichi sighed, hating to sound so pessimistic. But it was the truth; he had seen it for himself at first-hand. "But there are new Chosen Children being chosen to fight the Digimon Kaizer. I'm sure they won't let us down, and we'll help out the best we can."

"I'll go with you guys tomorrow," Sora said as she stood up.

Jyou frowned and lowered his head. "I have a test tomorrow. I'm afraid I won't be able to join you guys."

Yamato sighed. "I can't come either. I have band practice tomorrow and I skipped today to meet with you guys."

Sora gently placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. "We'll tell you everything," she assured him, hating the disappointed look on his handsome face. "If something's urgent with Gabumon, we'll call you."

Takeru nodded, moving beside his brother, and smiled. "That's right, oniichan. I'll do my best to look out for Gabumon as well!"

Yamato looked at Sora and Takeru, seeing the determination in their eyes, and smiled back. He knew he could count on them to take care of things but he was still worried about Gabumon. _If Greymon had become a slave then..._ he shrugged off the thought. He trusted that the others would let him know if things went terribly wrong.

Jyou, who was also worried for his partner, turned to Koushiro. "Keep an eye out on Gomamon for me, okay?" Jyou said, more than asked, trying to keep his own worry back and hoping things would turn out okay.

Koushiro gave him a small smile and nodded in agreement. "Don't worry. I will." He was eager himself to visit the digital world and meet Tentomon again.

"It's decided then!" Taichi said, clenching his fist. "Hikari, Takeru, Koushiro, Sora and I will head out tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Everyone chorused their agreement before heading their separate ways.

* * *

Ai sat in her room as her stepmother played with the newly born twins while her father slept. She was trying to work on a novel she was writing, but after ten whole minutes, not a single word flowed out. She was distracted by many things: the wailing sounds of the twins, her father's loud snoring, and the digital world. Mostly the digital world. She couldn't help it though. Getting a digimon partner of her own and going on an adventure with it sounded so exciting!

Finally, she sighed and gave up, deciding to abandon the novel for today. She went and lay down on her bed, munching on the carrots she had taken from the kitchen earlier.

Eventually, she drifted off into a deep slumber, dreaming about meeting her digimon. Tomorrow just couldn't come sooner.

The next morning, even though it was a day off, she got dressed and rushed towards the school as fast as possible. She saw Hikari and Takeru sneaking in from the back and followed after them. By the time the three of them reached the computer room, they realized that the others were already there, waiting for them.

"Are we all here?" Iori asked, looking around and taking note.

"Yeah, we're all here," Hikari said before turning to Daisuke. "Go ahead, Daisuke-kun."

Daisuke nodded and flashed his digivice at the computer screen. "Digital Gate, open!"

The whole group was sucked into the digital world.

Ai groaned when she landed roughly, the hard ground scraping her knee. She got up and looked around, then noticed that her clothes colour had changed. It was now a green tank top and pink shorts.

Iori saw that his clothes had also changed. He was wearing a long olive-color shirt and red pants.

Ai put her hands on her hips. "What's with the wardrobe change?"

Daisuke shrugged. "I dunno. It happened to me too when I first entered the digital world. I guess it's part of the package." He felt odd explaining these things to people he barely knew but Hikari wanted him to start taking charge of things since he knew more things than Ai and Iori did.

"Daisuke!" a familiar voice called out. The said boy turned to see V-mon, Patamon, Tailmon and Agumon heading in their direction.

"V-mon," Daisuke acknowledged, a small smile gracing his features as he reached out to shake his partner's hand. He was about to say more when, without warning, a crack appeared underneath him and V-mon, and they both fell into it.

Daisuke quickly grabbed V-mon with one hand and held the edge of the ground surface with the other. He was barely managing to hold on.

"Daisuke-kun!" Hikari ran forward, wanting to help them, though Takeru pulled her back, knowing that it was dangerous.

"Daisuke!" Taichi cried, concern echoing in his voice.

"Drimogemon!" From within the crack came the Digimon Kaizer's voice, before the man himself appeared too, riding on top of a Monochromon's back. "Drag the two of them near the base! Now!"

Ken whipped the said digimon, who released a raging roar. Whether it was a battle cry or a cry of pain, one wouldn't know. Nonetheless, Drimogemon obeyed its master's order like a tamed digimon. It grabbed V-mon's right leg and slowly lowered itself into the earth beneath.

"Daisuke!" V-mon cried as his paw began to slip from Daisuke's grip, though the latter tightened their hold.

Drimogemon, determined to drag the twosome down with it, pulled harder. The pair didn't have enough strength to fight back, so they eventually fell into the abyss below and disappeared from sight.

"Motomiya-kun!"

"Motomiya-san!"

Iori and Ai kneeled down, utterly horrified at the scene unfolding before them. Daisuke and V-mon, swallowed by the earth, just like that.

Sora rushed over to Ai, putting a hand on her shoulder, while Koushiro moved to Iori's side.

"We're outnumbered here," Sora said. "Daisuke has V-mon with him he'll be alright."

"B-but..." Ai stuttered. "W-we can't just leave him. H-he's one of us right?" Suddenly, she wasn't so excited about this new adventure anymore. It seemed a lot more dangerous than it initially had appeared to be.

"Ai-san's right," Iori said. "We have to help Motomiya-san!"

Taichi wanted to say something when Ai's and Iori's digivices started beeping.

Agumon exchanged a look with Patamon. "Are the digivices responding to the temple nearby?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Patamon said, flapping his ear-like wings and hovering in the air. "C'mon, there might be more Digimentals or something. Maybe they can help us!"

Ai and Iori exchanged glances with each another before rushing after Patamon. The others followed shortly.

The group walked in silence until they reached the temple. Inside it was a silver Digimental with two horns protruding out of it. It had a purple crest of love drawn on it.

Koushiro glanced at Sora. "Try lifting it."

Sora was doubtful that she could lift it after Taichi had told her about his own experience but she wrapped her hands around it anyway. She pulled as hard as she could but it didn't lift. The redhead huffed before looking at Ai.

"Ai-chan, you try," she encouraged.

"M-me?" Ai stuttered, still shaken from having seen Daisuke disappeared before her eyes. "I-I d-don't think I'm the right person for t-this." After all, her stepmother and father were always busy with the twins that they didn't even notice her. To be honest, she didn't understand love at all.

Hikari moved beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Daisuke-kun thought he wasn't meant for courage either." She smiled. "But he was able to lift it. Go ahead and try, Ai-chan. What have you got to lose?"

Ai felt hesitant, but wrapped her own hands around the Digimental and pulled. It wasn't budging so she tried pulling harder. She pulled so hard until she fell back, crashing to the ground. Still, the Digimental didn't budge. There was no glow, no nothing.

Everyone stared at it blankly, as if waiting for something to happen. Just who was the child of this Digimental?


End file.
